Kiladangan withstand Ballingarry revival

GAA: FBD Insurance County Under 21 'A' Hurling Championship Semi-Final

 

Kiladangan 1-17

Ballingarry 2-10

 

Report: Michael Dundon in Templetuohy

 

MATCH DIGEST

Man of the Match: Dan O'Meara (Kiladangan)

SCORERS – Kiladangan: Bryan McLoughney 0-7 (6 frees), Dan O'Meara 0-4; Tom O'Meara 1-1; Billy Seymour 0-3; Sean Hayes, Darren Ryan 0-1 each.

Ballingarry: Dylan Walsh 0-9 (8 frees); Conor Vaughan, Kieran Lyons 1-0 each; Patrick Ivors 0-1.

 

A third county final appearance this year is on the cards for Kiladangan as the North champions overcame Ballingarry in the County Under 21 'A' Hurling semi-final on Sunday, thus qualifying to meet Holycross-Ballycahill in the final next weekend.

With a healthy sprinkling of their senior squad that were defeated in the county final in action, Kiladangan were strongly fancied to clear this hurdle but despite enjoying a nine point advantage at half-time, they found themselves under severe pressure to maintain that lead as South champions Ballingarry came at them with purpose in a thrilling second half.

Kiladangan’s case was not helped by the sending off of full back Ciaran Kelly at the three-quarter stage and he will be a big loss to them in the final. That, and the Ballingarry rally, represented a serious test of the credentials of the Kiladangan men but to their credit, when the pressure came on they rose to the challenge and beyond question deserved their place in the final.

Previous winners in 2017, Kiladangan were hugely impressive in the first half. Despite the bitterly cold weather, a sharp downfield breeze, and heavy underfoot conditions, all of which militated against quality hurling, they adapted readily to the situation. Bryan McLoughney was deadly accurate from frees, and Barry Hogan’s long raking puckouts were causing great difficulty to the Ballingarry rearguard, as the North champions established a firm foothold in the game.

 

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